Red Grange

Red Grange held a plain theory about the sport he played so beautifully. "I played football the only way I knew," he once said. "If you have the football and 11 guys are after you, if you`re smart, you`ll run. It was no big deal." But, to many, Old No. 77 was a very big deal. His runs often were spectacular, his feats seemingly superhuman. Throughout his career, in stadiums and movie houses, where a nation gazed in awe at newsreels, people cheered him. Grange was a man of many...

Glenbard West has developed a powerhouse football program based on a grind-it-out running game and stout defense. Based on this summer's 7-on-7 games, the Hilltoppers' offense might take on a different look this upcoming season. Glenbard West defeated Neuqua Valley, 22-14, in last Friday's championship game at Wheaton Warrenville South to win the 32-team, double-elimination Red Grange Classic 7-on-7 tournament. The win qualifies the Hilltoppers for the...

Coming off its first Rose Bowl appearance in 24 years, Illinois' newly rebuilt Memorial Stadium will make its debut with ticket increases in most areas and a pricing plan design to invoke the memory of Red Grange. Six-game season tickets in the horseshoe section of the south end zone and student tickets will cost $77 in recognition of Grange, who wore the number. The horseshoe seats cost $149 in 2006 but were cut to $60 last season as Illinois completed the two-year, $120...

Montini football coach Chris Andriano added an unscheduled trip this summer. The Broncos won the Red Grange 7-on-7 Classic in late June to qualify for the National Select 7-on-7 tournament on July 24 in Hoover, Ala. "The kids want to go, and we want to go down there," Andriano said. "We've got to adjust our camp schedule and our team camp scheduled for that time. This is all so unexpected for us. " The Red Grange Classic featured several new teams this year for growing 7-on-7...

They called her "Lady," which drew stares at restaurants and at the assisted living facility where she lived. But in the regal sense, the name fit Marion Wood perfectly. It came from her great-granddaughter Ryan, who would go out to lunch with the girls, her mother and "Nana," as they called her then, and hear, "This way, ladies," or "May I help you, ladies?" Ryan figured they recognized this special great-grandmother of hers and were calling her "Lady," and so that's what she started...

The second Red Grange Classic 7-on-7 and Lineman Challenge will take place Wednesday at Wheaton Warrenville South and will feature some of the top Illinois teams to watch in 2012. Defending Class 5A champion Montini and 7A champion Rockford Boylan will be there. Other top programs include Maine South and Northwestern-bound quarterback Matt Alviti and Bolingbrook and Illinois-bound quarterback Aaron Bailey. East St....

`I never played anyplace where people took football as seriously as Wheaton. When I played there in high school, you could walk downtown and get a soda and not even pay for it.`-The late Red Grange in a 1988 Tribune interview.

Pat McCaskey has many fond memories of Bears games played at Wrigley Field. The Bears part owner recalls how his grandfather, former coach George Halas, would always greet his grandchildren by saying, "Come here, give Grandpa a little kiss," regardless of the outcome. And how his uncle, George "Mugs" Halas Jr., would sit in the upper deck of the stadium and inevitably throw his hat over the railing into the seats below whenever the Bears — or an...

Dick Butkus will join Red Grange as the only players to have their Fighting Illini uniforms retired. Butkus will be on hand for the halftime ceremonies Saturday in Champaign, where Illinois hosts Nebraska in a nationally televised contest.

On Jan. 29, 1737, political writer and pamphleteer Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England. In 1820 Britain's King George III died at Windsor Castle, ending a reign that had seen both the American and French revolutions. In 1845 Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror. In 1850 Henry Clay introduced in the Senate a compromise bill on slavery that included the admission of California into the Union as a free state. In 1860 playwright Anton Chekhov was...

Number 77--Red Grange. No need to list any other players for this number. Grange popularized college football and virtually created pro football. Along with [Babe] Ruth and [Jack] Dempsey, he was one of the top sports icons of the Roaring '20s.

So LeBron James wants to give up his No. 23 jersey and have the NBA retire the number for all teams to honor Michael Jordan. Interesting idea. Baseball retired Jackie Robinson's No. 42 and the NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's No. 99. But no other sport has done so. So, what numbers should be retired in other sports? (We have included another baseball number to retire for the overall greatest player.) Here are our picks: FOOTBALL 77 Red Grange BASEBALL 3 Babe Ruth AUTO RACING 3 ...

In the era of mad marathons, Americans danced till they dropped. Bicycle races lasted six days. People teetered atop flagpoles for months. The silliest 1920s indulgence was a foot race. But this was more than a marathon. This was no romp of 26 miles and 385 yards, the legendary Greek messenger's path from Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. In 1928 A.D., men from around the world ran a race of daffy dimensions: 3,422 miles from Los Angeles to New York. It was called the Bunion Derby.

It was a wonderful rookie season for Matt Forte last year. But when it comes to comparisons with other running backs who played for his team, he has many yards to go. This, after all, is the franchise of Walter Payton, of Gale Sayers, of Red Grange. It is unfair to compare Forte to those players. But we can compare him to the post-Payton backs. Since Payton retired 22 years ago, 10 backs other than Forte have led the team in rushing. From those, we can say...

New 37-cent postage stamps will recall the exploits of football greats Walter Camp, Ernie Nevers, Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski and will be issued Aug. 8 at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.. They go on sale nationally Aug. 11. ---------- Compiled from RedEye news services and edited by Lara Weber (lweber@tribune.com) and Michael Morgan (mnmorgan@tribune.com)HOT SPOT

On Jan. 29, 1737, political writer and pamphleteer Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England. In 1820 Britain's King George III died. In 1860 playwright Anton Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Russia. In 1861 Kansas became the 34th state of the Union. In 1880 comedian W.C. Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield in Philadelphia. In 1900 baseball's original American League was organized with teams in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis and...

Dwight W. Follett, 90, former president and chairman of education giant Follett Corp. and an innovator in the field of textbooks, died of heart failure Monday in West Suburban Hospital, Oak Park. Mr. Follett, born in Chicago and a longtime resident of Oak Park, graduated in 1925 from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He played as a reserve end on the football team made famous by Red Grange. In 1925, he joined book publishers Wilcox and Follett Co., where his father...

Coming off its first Rose Bowl appearance in 24 years, Illinois' newly rebuilt Memorial Stadium will make its debut with ticket increases in most areas and a pricing plan design to invoke the memory of Red Grange. Six-game season tickets in the horseshoe section of the south end zone and student tickets will cost $77 in recognition of Grange, who wore the number. The horseshoe seats cost $149 in 2006 but were cut to $60 last season as Illinois completed the two-year, $120...

Overall, the recent 150 Year Sports Anniversary issue was a great job. However, I was disappointed that the University of Illinois, the largest school in the state, was not included but DePaul, Loyola, Northwestern, University of Chicago and Notre Dame were. (Last I heard, Notre Dame was located in another state with no branches in Chicago.) As part of great moments or Chicago Bears, Illini stars like Red Grange, Dick Butkus and the Whiz Kids were mentioned. But longtime Illinois coaches such as Bob...

They called her "Lady," which drew stares at restaurants and at the assisted living facility where she lived. But in the regal sense, the name fit Marion Wood perfectly. It came from her great-granddaughter Ryan, who would go out to lunch with the girls, her mother and "Nana," as they called her then, and hear, "This way, ladies," or "May I help you, ladies?" Ryan figured they recognized this special great-grandmother of hers and were calling her "Lady," and so that's what she started...